


Sunsweats and Sunburns

by Zalakbian



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Doropetra, Doropetra Day 2019, F/F, Fishing, Happy Doropetra Day Everyone!, Post-Canon, Sea, Sunburn, casual nudity, heat exhaustion, i love my gays, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21540649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zalakbian/pseuds/Zalakbian
Summary: Dorothea finds Brigid's sun hard to deal with, but with Petra's help she conquers the heat.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Petra Macneary
Comments: 8
Kudos: 73
Collections: Dorothea/Petra Day 2019





	Sunsweats and Sunburns

**Author's Note:**

> I just had to write for Doropetra Day, I love them so much. I have a longer fic in mind for the future but for this I just wanted to get something out.
> 
> The prompt for this was initially "sea" but I didn't really end up going that way.
> 
> Please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed!
> 
> If you like this, please consider joining to talk about it on the [Edeleth Discord Server](https://discord.gg/m2AVbJ3) I run! You can also [follow me on Twitter!](https://twitter.com/MariMari07_01)

In the new one year since her arrival with Petra in Brigid, Dorothea learned to love and embrace many wondrous things about the island nation, the food, the language, the people, the seas and the beaches to name a few. But if there was one thing Dorothea found especially hard to embrace, it was the Brigid sun, omnipresent, hot and uncaring if taken lightly.

“It is like the Black Backed Gull,” Petra had explained to her once before their arrival. “Give it the chance, and it will attack.”

Dorothea had thought the worst of it was just the heat itself, arriving just in the middle of the summer months she found the warmth absolutely choking and stifling, while her dear Petra seemed to thrive in it. The first night they shared a bed Dorothea made a fatal mistake in insisting that she sleep under a blanket, despite all of her lover’s warnings over what might happen as a result.

“The nights are still plenty warm, my dear, I am not wanting for you to get heat sickness.”

But Dorothea continued to pull the soft fur cover over her bare body, with some amount of worry in her eyes.

“I’ve just always slept under covers… my mind needs that feeling for me to feel relaxed enough to sleep.”

As Petra had predicted, Dorothea awoke the next day with an uncomfortable amount of nausea and dizziness, as well as being absolutely covered head to toe in sweat. She needed her love’s help just to stop from tripping over her own feet as Petra guided her to a special 'breeze room' that allowed a pleasing air circulation. After returning a few minutes later with a cool drink to soothe the heat within her, Dorothea managed to croak out a small apology for not heeding Petra’s caution.

But for her part, Petra just lovingly combed her partner’s hair and said she would find a way to make sure Dorothea would sleep well if a blanket was that important. Sure enough, the next night was a very restless one, Dorothea tossing and turning in the night heat while Petra slept soundly by her side, simply unable to feel at ease or shut her active mind off. When Petra dutifully arose at her appointed time she found her love lying bare on her back back, eyes blankly staring upwards at nothing in particular.

“Couldn’t sleep. At all.”

Petra shifted closer and pulled Dorothea’s weary head up to rest on top of her chest, hands gently caressing her frizzled hair and sweat slicked hips.

“I’m sorry bringing you to my home has brought you such distress.” Petra consoled, trying to think of anything she could do to help her love with the climate.

Dorothea curled more snugly into Petra’s hold, ignoring the buildup of shared heat throughout her skin.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, I love it here, I love being with you.” She clarified, not wanting Petra to worry to much for her sake when she already had her own items to deal with.

“How do you deal with the heat, dear?” Dorothea inquired.

“If I am needing to cool off I go to the sea, it is not far from here.”

Ah, the water, in her heat haze Dorothea had forgotten that they were on a small island, the endless seas surrounding them shortly every which way. She had gone splashing in pools and ponds before as a kid, but never the big blue sea, it sounded nice to be there were her beloved Petra.

“Then let’s go swimming together… later… right now I’m just… exhausted…” Dorothea cooed before finally succumbing to her body’s exhaustion, more passing out then falling asleep.

That same night, Petra informed her love that she had an idea on how to combat her uneasiness in bed, leading her not to their shared room but to an outdoor garden populated by tall trees and colourful flowers. Between two trees lay a strange creation that Dorothea had never seen before, what she could only describe as a fishing net stretched between the two trunks.

“Sleeping in a hammock helped when I was a restless child, I would be liking for you to try.” Petra explained as she unfurled the corded ropes of the sling. Dorothea was skeptical that such a thing would be comfortable to rest in, but she had no reason to doubt Petra’s claims, so Dorothea simply shrugged her shoulders and climbed into the hanging vessel.

Almost immediately she was surprised and so gave a small yelp at how much the net stretched and dipped to accommodate its new passenger, the sides of the hammock curling upwards around her body and almost meeting on the top. It was almost as if she was a caterpillar having spun a cocoon around her, and while some might equate this feeling to being trapped, for Dorothea it was surprisingly soothing, just as Petra had claimed.

“See? It is relaxing!” Petra exclaimed joyfully after hearing a large yawn coming from her love, she then gave Dorothea a slight push on her hip, letting the momentum swing her gently back and forth.

“This is very nice… but I’ll be lonely here without you…” Dorothea pointed out, still swinging back and forth as she looked longingly at her love in basked in moonlight.

“Don’t worry love, I have another I will set up, so we can both be sleeping under the stars.”

A couple days later Petra showed Dorothea a new addition to their room, an extra wide hammock specifically woven to support two people, with the two lovers immediately deciding to slip into and experience for themselves. There was really no choice but to lie with bodies intertwined within the netting, with Petra having her leg and arm slung over Dorothea’s body, and her head at rest on the diva’s ample cleavage.

“You’re always looking out for me, Petra… what did I ever do to deserve you?” Dorothea choked out, clearly struggling to hold back waves of emotions. The Brigid Princess looked up and answered Dorothea’s lips with a kiss.

“Because you are you, and I love you, Dorothea.” Petra sung a soft Brigid song to her love as Dorothea now openly wept at the depth of their love, tear drops running down her face and into the fuchsia hair of the women she wanted to spend her whole life with.

Together Petra had helped Dorothea defeat the Brigid heat, but the singer wasn’t aware yet that the sun could be just as threatening.

“My love?! Are you ok?” Petra had near screamed when she first laid eyes on Dorothea after her trip into town. She didn’t know exactly what Petra’s concern was, but when the Princess reached out to grab her hand Dorothea felt a sudden tightness and heat burning from within the skin on her fingers.

“All I did was go explore the markets for awhile…” Dorothea pondered as Petra brought her to a mirror, revealing that nearly every exposed portion of her body was seared an angry shade of red, throbbing to the touch and with a burning sensation all around.

“You spent too long under the sun, you’re burned horribly!” Petra continued to worry, sitting her love down so she could run and grab something to help her. Now that she was aware of her predicament Dorothea couldn’t help but notice the growing pain and discomfort throughout her body. The singer’s arms, legs, and everything from the upper chest were all affected badly, and now she couldn’t help but feel itchy all throughout the burned areas, she now fidgeted in her seat trying to avoid the urge to scratch at her already weeping skin.

Petra returned quickly and kneeled down next to her love with a small pot of aloe, taking small scoops and very carefully spreading it across the red fields of Dorothea’s sun tortured body.

“This will help… I’m sorry I could not… did not warn you enough about our sun.” Petra apologized, the diva wincing slightly every time the cool gel tickled her flesh. Every minute or so Petra would look at Dorothea with a pained expression, clearly still feeling guilty for what she had gone through, with Dorothea consoling Petra and giving her tender kisses in order to help her feel more at ease.

After a few days the discomfort in Dorothea’s skin had mostly gone away, and she felt well enough to have Petra accompany her outside in the sun once again. This time however she never stepped outside without a very wide brimmed hat and a blue tinted paste the people rubbed on to help protect from the sun’s power. Naively, Dorothea thought this the end of her battles against the Brigid sun, but mistakes were something all people made, and on the one year anniversary of her arrival to the small island nation Dorothea made a particularly silly error that reminded her of those early days.

She and Petra had gone to a nearby popular beach site to frolic about, going strolling, swimming, and fishing throughout the day. It was there that Dorothea learned of the Brigid Princess’ astuteness with a harpoon, watching from a seat on the beach with a chilled fruit cocktail drink in her hand as Petra readied and launched her barbed fishing spear into the water over and over on a small wooden dock.

Eventually she noticed that her love was watching her from the shore and they exchanged waves, with Dorothea silently grateful that Petra couldn’t see her blush at the Princess’ exposed breasts. Both of them had discarded their tops hours ago as the sun rose to its highest point, with casual nudity like this just a way of life in the nation’s hot climate, but the Fódlan opera singer was still getting used to the openness at it. And on a side note, for someone who’s professional life entailed being a celebrity envied for her beauty, Dorothea found the lack of attention paid to her large bare chest just as somewhat uncomfortable to the overattention her looks received back at Mittlefrank.

But she was greatful for relief, and now having gotten used to the sun’s rays and heat it felt to her like an invisible warming blanket draped across her body, only interrupted by the occasional cool beads of sweat that ran down her, or the frequent sip of her refreshing beverage. Curiously, after finishing their mutual wave Dorothea saw that Petra had decided to lay her harpoon down, choosing instead to kneel at the edge of the dock with her hand outstretched into the choppy water. A couple onlookers started watching in anticipation in addition to herself, and Dorothea was left scratching her head, wondering what her love was trying to do.

Just then, a great splash at the water’s edge surprised them all, and Dorothea was shocked to see Petra yanking a big blue tuna out of the sea, it’s rubbery mouth having enclosed itself her fingers like bait. Petra removed her hand from the fish’s mouth and ran and quick as she could to her side, cradling the big gasping catch in her arms.

“Dorothea, did you see me!” She beamed with excitement, with the singer and a few others giving the Princess an encouraging clap.

“That was amazing, love! I’ve never seen anyone catch a fish like that! Not even Professor Byleth!” Dorothea applauded, the both of them remembering that funny scene where she had caught a pike with her teeth on a dare from Claude, to which he had regretfully allowed the transfer of Lysithea into the Black Eagles, the spellcaster overjoyed to finally be free from her now former house leader’s teasing, in addition to just finding it pleasing to see him so flustered and defeated.

Petra flushed a rosy red at her lover’s compliment, explaining that she had only switched to that somewhat dangerous style since she knew Dorothea was watching her. The Princess had wanted to impress her, and Dorothea acknowledged that she was indeed thoroughly fascinated by her partner’s skill and strength in such a feat.

“I’m taking this one to the roasting pit, we’ll share this catch with everyone.” Petra stated, beckoning for Dorothea to follow her.

Only, she found that she couldn’t quite get up.

Looking down Dorothea was horrified to see the familiar angry red of a sunburn spread neatly across her knees, and strangely **only** her knees, the resulting pain and stiffness this brought being the reason she was currently unable to stand up from her seat.

“What happened!” Dorothea panicked, “I’m sure I put on enough sunblock!?”

Petra got the attention of one of the locals who had been watching her and she handed the still wriggling tuna to him so the Princess could help Dorothea to her feet. The ring of seared skin around her knees prevented the singer from fully straightening her legs out, but the resulting shift in body position explained to her what had happened.

“Love… did you put it on while standing? Or sitting?” Petra asked.

Dorothea didn’t know what to make of the bizarre question, but then she too noticed how the loose skirt she had around her waist had reacted to her standing up, and it became all too obvious. When she had sat down the garment was hiked up over her knees, and Dorothea hadn’t bothered to apply protection under her clothes.

The now mutual understanding made the singer laugh intensely through the discomfort, finding it too amusing how she had made such a simple mistake after taking all the necessary steps she thought were necessary to bear the Brigid sun.

“Petra… I hope you won't be ashamed to have such a foolish wife the next moon.” Dorothea managed to speak out between fits of laughter.

For her part, Petra shook her head, electing to pick up and carry her fiance in order to spare her the use of her scalded legs.

“Next time I will let the fish drag me into the sea, so I can be the foolish one.” Petra teased.

Dorothea didn’t know what to say to such a silly proclamation, just reaching up and giving Petra a surprise kiss on the cheek, thinking that if a little singing could lead to such sweet moments, maybe Brigid’s sun wasn’t as hostile as she initially thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Claude: You can have Lysithea if... and only if... you catch a fish with your teeth
> 
> Byleth: Ok. *does it effortlessly*
> 
> Claude: Wait, that's illegal
> 
> Edelgard: *stares in shock*
> 
> Fun fact, the sunburn around the knees is based off something that happened to poor old me when I was vacationing in Osoyoos, I was going out on a boat and foolishly didn't put sun screen high enough up my legs, so when I sat down it let the sun scorch an angry red ring around my knees, I couldn't walk normally for days, it was hilarious.
> 
> I'm a poor red head, so sunburns are really nasty for me, and ever since then I've been especially careful to avoid them.
> 
> Anyway! I hope you enjoy this brief break from my current Edeleth fic!


End file.
